Basket of Goodies
by Little Brittle
Summary: This time, Red Riding Hood went to the wrong house.


Once upon a time, there was a little girl with hair as red as blood. She was called Red for this. Also, she was always seen riding with ghouls of the night wind with her dark hood upon her head. Thus, she was named Red Riding Hood. She was a silent girl and barely had any friends. But she wanted to meet people but the people feared her father so much that they shunned her. Though this was the case, Red Riding Hood wanted to grow up just like her father, thus, she became one of his apprentices.

One day, her father called her and gave her a basket, "If you want to prove yourself to be a good apprentice, you must perform a certain task."

"I am ready, father. What is it that you assign me to do?" Red Riding Hood took the basket.

"I want you to pay a little visit to Grandma. She's dying, you know, and I want you to _cheer_ her up."

"But, father, I don't know where this Grandma live."

"It is just at the end of this forest. Don't disappoint me, my little apprentice."

Red Riding Hood nodded, wore her hood of shadows and went to the less dark woods. The ghouls followed her and played with her hood. She was pretty annoyed by this as she kept holding onto her hood. Her face must not be seen by any creature or light. To distract them, Red Riding Hood picked a handful of poppies nearby and threw them for the wind to scatter with. Suddenly, she heard a girl screaming and the sound of hurried footsteps.

Red Riding Hood looked behind her, but it was too late. The panicking girl bumped into her, and both stumbled on the bushes and rolled down the hill. At the bottom, Red Riding Hood slowly got up until the girl stretched out her hand to help, but Red Riding Hood refused. "I am so sorry about that," the girl with honey-blonde hair said, "Bears were after me. I should've trespassed in their house. Anyway, my name is Goldilocks. But you can call me Dee-Dee." Red Riding Hood seemed placid and fixed her hood. But deep inside, she was happy that someone would offer friendship.

"Call me Rai." She started to walk away but Dee-Dee followed and asked, "So, where are you going?"

"To Grandma's house"

"Really? Well, isn't this a coincidence? I'm going to Grandma's house, too."

Rai said nothing during their walk while Dee-Dee was humming the Three Bears' song. Minutes passed, or maybe hours, when the two girls finally realized they were lost. "We had to roll the hill, huh?" Rai blamed her companion who was a little embarrassed. Then, Dee-Dee got a loaf of bread that she took from the Three Bear's house, and started dropping crumbs on her trail. Rai shrugged her shoulders and followed Dee-Dee.

Hours had passed, too, and the two girls were still lost. Rai went back to the trail of breadcrumbs, and found a girl with chestnut brown hair eating the breadcrumbs. Rai uttered a ghastly sigh while Dee-Dee was surprised, "What have you done?" The brunette stood up and wiped off the dirt in her mouth. She apologized, "I am so sorry. I was looking for my siblings, Hansel and Gretel. But I got really hungry." Her stomach rumbled loud and her ribs could be seen. Rai and Dee-Dee took pity on her and forgave her.

"My name is Hazel," she said, "What's that in your basket?"

"Don't open it. It's for Grandma, not you. Besides, you wouldn't want the goodies inside."

"Oh, I would eat anything."

With no more breadcrumbs, the three girls ventured deeper and deeper in the woods and became more hopelessly lost. The moon appeared full in the sky. Dee-Dee sat down and rested her weary head while Hazel's stomach growled menacingly. But Rai heard something else that growled. She approached a bush of thorns and out came a huge, grey wolf. Dee-Dee and Hazel were startled but too tired to run away. "What do three succulent girls like you doing in the dark woods?" he drooled. Rai approached without fear, "I was on my way to Grandma's house, until these two girls appeared and made me lost."

"Grandma's house? Oh, I know where Grandma's house is."

"You better not give us the wrong directions or else I would send my father to you."

"Oh, don't worry. I myself shall lead you to Grandma's house."

The girls were having second thoughts, but they were hungry, sleepy and grumpy. So, they followed the Wolf. They soon came out of the woods, and arrived on a paved road. They followed the wide path that went up a hill. Then, they reached an old rusty gate upon the dead end. The Wolf opened it and they walked up a long flight of steps. They were surrounded by trees that seemed to form a tunnel with their branches. The girls noticed smoke coming out of a chimney. They soon arrived at an antique mansion.

"Oh, Grandma!" called the wolf. A woman answered the door. She was tall with a beautiful and youthful face though her pinned up long hair was as white as snow. She wore a black night gown and a thick fur coat. Her eyelashes were thick and black, and her lips were as red as roses. She had long polished fingernails as she patted the Wolf's head. "Oh, such darlings," she said to the three girls, "Lost are we? Well, you can stay here for the night."

"Are you Grandma?" Rai asked suspecting.

"Why yes. I am Grand Molly Helwich. You may have heard of me as the heiress of the new kid's factory."

"Are you dying?"

"What kind of question is that, young lady?" Grand Mo scolded then changed her expression, "Well, I'm dying to show you around." Grand Mo led the way inside the mansion and the three girls were awed by the wonderful fixtures and furniture and the rich paintings. Surely, they were all bought in the most exclusive auction houses. They sat in the living room, except for Dee-Dee, who was feeding her eyes with all the shiny knick-knacks in the room. She was eyeing a glass cabinet with beautifully carved handles. "No, don't open that!" shouted Grand Mo in panic. But Dee-Dee already opened the glass door and they broke into pieces. The handle was in Dee-Dee's hand, "Oops! Sorry about that!"

"Don't worry. It's just glass….Stained glass from Petersburg!" Grand Mo then calmed down and poured some tea. A sculpture of Achilles caught Dee-Dee's eyes. As she approaches it, she tripped on a Japanese table and bumped on the statue which also bumped another statue and it tore a painting. "Oopsy! Sorry again, Grand Mo." The woman's eyes were twitching and gave up, "Just sit down." Dee-Dee took her seat that looked like bejeweled throne. But it collapsed into pieces.

"Okay," Grand Mo stood up, "I guess it's time for dinner. Isn't that right, Wolf?"

"It is, my mistress," he replied drooling at the girls. They entered the dining room with a very long table equipped with decadent sweets and luscious pastries. The roast chicken is actually made of chocolate. They all dine in, but as for Hazel, she really dug in. She voraciously ate whatever her hand touched. She ate with her hands and didn't care if her face is covered with whip cream. She jumped on the table to get more food, even from her friends' plates. Good thing Grandma was on the other far side of the table as she watched the gluttonous girl. She was utterly disgusted.

"Why didn't you bring these girls in here?" she whispered to Wolf, "They don't even have proper manners."

"Hey, I'm hungry."

"Hungry? I feed you every day, you ungrateful mutt."

"With sweets. I need meat, too, my mistress." They were interrupted when Hazel licked all the platters clean and created a huge, disgusting burp. Grand Mo declared, "It's time for bed, then." She first led Hazel to a room which was near the kitchen. Next was Dee-Dee in a dark room and Grand Mo gave her candles and a match. Lastly, she led Rai to a long hallway. As they were walking, Grand Mo was insecure that Rai walked so strangely, as if she was not dragging her feet. "You know, a proper gentleman removes his hat inside a house," Grand Mo said to disturb the eerie silence, "It's the same with a young lady and her hood."

"Oh, you don't want to see my face. You'll see hell if I remove my hood."

"Such forbidden choices of words! Don't you ever mention the h-word, young lady." Then, Grand Mo became more uncomfortable when she felt that Rai was staring at her. She then hurried her steps and showed her the pink bedroom. "Such bad-mannered girls they are," she told Wolf, "Why did you even drag them here?"

The clock struck twelve in the evening and the Wolf sneakily went to Hazel's room. To his surprise, she wasn't there. Then, he heard a jar broke in the kitchen. He peeked in and saw the now-fat Hazel munching on cupcakes, cookies and candy canes. Chocolate were smeared on the walls, floors and on her face. "Good, she's all fat and juicy," he muttered. While Hazel was busy shoveling some flan, the Wolf suddenly bit her plump arm. With all the fat in her, Hazel only felt a tickle. As for the Wolf, he removed his rotten teeth, "Ugh! You're too sweet!" and ran away.

Meanwhile, Dee-Dee slept on a bed as soft as the floor. She heard a jar broke downstairs. She grabbed the candles and matches Grand Mo gave her. She then lighted the candles and saw for the first time what was in the room. To her horror, all she could see were teddy bears. They were everywhere, on the cabinets, tables, chairs, walls, floor, and even on the bed she was lying on top. Dee-Dee shrieked with all the fright and trauma she experienced back in the Three Bears' house. Then, her terror forced her to tear the teddy bears apart.

"Home-wrecker…." She turned around and saw three giant bears emerge from the windows. Dee-Dee was paralyzed in fear as Mother Bear slapped her hard and Father Bear dragged the girl by her golden locks. The Wolf barged in and bit Dee-Dee's foot, "She's mine!" Baby Bear then tackled him. Hazel also appeared to see why Dee-Dee screamed that hour. With the bowls of hot fudge and ice-cream, she attacked the bears.

"Hot Fudge! My eyes! Too hot! Too hot!" cried Father Bear.

"Brainfreeze! Too cold! Too cold!" cried Mother Bear.

The two bears fell out the window and Baby Bear jumped after them. Hazel saw the Wolf munching on Dee-Dee's head. She then jumped on top of him, her heavy weight crashing his bones. Grand Mo appeared, "What's all the commotion here?!" She gasped in astonishment when she saw her teddy bear collection also ruined. "Even soft things you ruin them," she pinched Dee-Dee's ear. Then, she also saw the chocolate covered fat girl on top of her pet.

"That's it. Get out of my house!"

The two girls were thrown away from the door. Then, they realized that Rai was missing and feared that the Wolf might eat her up. The Wolf was planning to do so. Hazel was too sweet. Goldilocks was too dirty, because the muddy bears attacked her. But Rai was just right. But not to disappoint his mistress anymore, he needed to trap his victim in a secured place. He encountered Rai wandering in the hallway. "Where are you going at this unholy time of the night?" he asked her.

"It is unholy indeed. I need to see Grandma." The Wolf told her that Grand Mo's room was in the first floor and it has scarlet double doors. This time he didn't accompany the girl and went into the second floor's library where a staircase led directly down the master's bedroom. So, the light-footed girl won't run away, the Wolf went first to the huge walk-in-closet. Hazel and Dee-Dee were watching outside the small window as the Wolf put on Grand Mo's clothes.

"He's going to trick Rai," Hazel said.

"We must get in and stop him," Dee-Dee replied.

Rai at last reached the scarlet double doors after passing rooms and rooms of displayed antiquities and collections from the kids' factory like toys and candies and ribbons. She knocked first and heard a coarse voice, "Come in." She stepped inside and perceived Grand Mo had grown bigger and hairier. "So, you turned into a werewolf, I see," she said, "No wonder you have a wolf for a boyfriend." The Wolf grunted and in a high-pitch tone, said, "What do you have there in that basket of yours?" Rai moved closer and showed the basket below the Wolf's nose, "Oh, just goodies."

"Well, a little more sweets won't hurt," the Wolf said, "Before the _main_ _course_." At the moment he opened the basket, he dropped dead. Rai walked away holding her basket of goodies with "Grandma's" soul inside. Rai was about to leave that mansion until she remembered Dee-Dee and Hazel. She passed by the kitchen and saw them busy upon the stove. They seemed to have trouble in burning it up. Rai heard the screams of a woman inside, "Get me out of here, you filthy little urchins!" Rai asked, "Who's in there?"

"The Big Bad Wolf," Dee-Dee said, "That's who."

"He tried to trick you and eat you up," Hazel added, "By putting on Grand Mo's clothes."

Rai then realized something horrible, "I harvested the wrong soul!" Suddenly, a mist came out of nowhere and a shadowy figure appeared before the three girls. "You had failed, my daughter," he said.

"It's the Grim Reaper!" Dee-Dee and Hazel fled away from the mansion. Red Riding Hood hid deeper in her hood with disappointment, took her basket of goodies and followed her father back into the darker woods. As for Grand Mo, her screams of help woke up the unconscious three bears in the yard. They soon freed her and became her new pets, feeding them sweets every day until they craved for meat again.

Goldilocks soon reached her Grandma's house. Dying in bed, Grandma thought she was an apprentice of Death. She took an axe and threatened Goldilocks to go away and let her live. Goldilocks sadly left her hysteric grandmother. But when she closed the door, the whole house fell apart with Grandma inside.

Meanwhile, Hazel was again lost in the woods and returned to her malnourished self again. One day, she saw a trail of breadcrumbs and started to eat them piece by piece. The crumbs soon reunited her with her siblings, Hansel and Gretel. Unfortunately, they became hopelessly lost again.

The End.


End file.
